REDCAN is the UK's alliance of regional eating disorder charities

REDCAN agencies deliver early intervention, prevention and community support for people experiencing eating distress and eating disorders. We want to see people have support as soon as possible and get well rapidly.

The charities work with people experiencing different kinds of eating distress and eating disorders. This can be children, young people and adults of all ages.

Specialist workers run groups and training for family members and friends, who in turn can better support loved ones to recover from eating disorders and distress. 

Our expert agencies work closely with local NHS eating disorder services. Where pathways of support and treatment work best across charity and NHS services, people can move smoothly into the level of support and treatment they need.

REDCAN's charities may provide support where there may be local NHS gaps: for example, most often around Binge Eating Disorder (BED) and Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).

Some charities provide specialist support for students at colleges and universities.

Finally, outreach and training workers can go into schools, workplaces, universities, gyms and beyond to train other professionals to prevent and respond appropriately to eating distress.

Through REDCAN, specialist staff meet regularly through forums. They discuss clinical practice, common issues, new research and innovations, and how to improve eating disorder support throughout the UK.

We share data to understand and demonstrate our collective impact. Charities provide free or low cost services, and we aim to reach people who experience financial and social barriers to eating disorder support.

Agencies work together to improve eating disorder services and support through practice and policy change, linking up the support we provide with NHS treatment.

Together we make the case for more national investment in early intervention and prevention of eating disorders. 

Early intervention should be the norm when someone starts to experience eating distress. But our UK system is about crisis intervention. Too many people get treatment only when they have become really ill. It's considerably harder to treat eating disorders the longer they go on. And it's much easier to recover when you get help quickly.

Eating disorders are on the rise across the UK. NHS treatment services are under pressure, and people without a formal diagnosis often struggle to get help. Our charities make a huge difference to people where we work, but are often given short-term contracts. Large areas of the UK don't commission affordable, early intervention, community-based eating disorder support.  

That's why we want to see the system change. We want more investment in prevention and early intervention. Specialist charities should be commissioned throughout the UK as part of an all-ages, comprehensive pathway of eating distress and eating disorder support and treatment. We take the pressure off local NHS services because people get well sooner, and we can make the right referrals if people do become unwell.

Australia’s national eating disorder strategy takes a joined-up approach to prevention and treatment, recognising that eating disorders are "everyone’s business". The UK could take a similar approach.

 Eating distress describes any relationship with food, weight, shape or eating that someone finds distressing. 

An eating disorder describes an illness where people restrict, purge or binge food. Clinical professionals will use mental and physical health criteria to diagnose an eating disorder. However, some people experiencing eating disorders will never be diagnosed formally. For example, not everyone will be seen by NHS services. Diagnostic criteria may not cover everyone's experiences. 

'Disordered eating' focuses on eating behaviour that suggests someone has a relationship to food, weight, shape and eating that they find distressing. 

All three touch on experiences which can include one or more of: persistent or intrusive thoughts about food or weight; having personal rules about food that make it hard to eat, whether in company or alone; not eating enough food to thrive; sensory experiences of food or fear of being sick that limits foods that feel acceptable to eat; episodes of not being able to stop eating; being sick, using laxatives or other medicine to get rid of food or keep weight down; compulsive exercise; urges to body check.

Some eating distress and eating disorders are linked to sensory experiences of food or fear of being sick, while others are focused on ideas around weight, health and body image. Some overlap.

It is key that eating distress is always taken seriously. Eating distress and disorders can have very serious mental and physical health consequences. Yet recovery is common and possible with the right support.

Many people with eating distress and eating disorders feel shame due to stigma and misinformation. They are never your fault.

Really common.

3.5 million people in the UK may have eating disorders, statisticians working with charity BEAT found this year (2026). That would be one in every 20 people, or about five per cent of the UK population. 

Other data suggests binge eating disorder (BED) is the most common eating disorder, followed by OSFED (other specified feeding and eating disorder) and bulimia. Anorexia affects fewer than one in ten people with eating disorders, while much more research is needed on ARFID (avoidant restrictive food intake disorder).

Eating distress and disorders most often develop during adolescence, but can occur at any age. Girls and women are most commonly affected, but around one in five are boys and men. ARFID often develops much earlier.

More research is needed to better understand the experiences of some groups in relation to eating distress and eating disorders, including people on lower incomes, people from minoritised ethnic communities, LGBTQ+ people, disabled and neurodivergent people, women experiencing perimenopause and menopause, older adults, and migrants. 

Eating disorders develop for many reasons, influenced by individual combinations of genetic, psychological, social, and environmental factors. Eating distress and eating disorders may emerge during periods of change and transition, challenging circumstances, or in relation to traumatic experiences.

The biggest risk factor is being a woman or girl. Gender and sexuality play a significant role in eating disorders in men and women. But eating distress and disorders show up in all groups in society.

Diet culture, appearance pressures, experiences of discrimination, and inequalities all contribute. Not having enough food, or binging and/or purging food, may in turn affect brain chemistry, and produce or reinforce disordered thoughts and behaviour. Growing evidence suggests links between neurodivergence and eating disorders.